Changes to planning consultations in Rother

The way in which residents and organisations have their say on development in Rother is under consultation.

Changes to legislation means the district council must make amendments to its Statement of Community Involvement (SCI), originally adopted in 2006.

One of the proposed changes is greater use of social media to engage the community in planning consultations.

“More and more people are using social media to stay informed and this seems the perfect forum to share information about consultations on planning policies,” said Gillian Johnson, portfolio holder for strategic planning.

“It is changes like this that need to be reflected in our Statement of Community Involvement and one reason why updating the document is so important.”

Speaking about social media, the draft document says: “The council will seek to choose the appropriate consultation processes that best balance community impact, accessibility and available resources.

“Greater use is being made of online and social media methods of consultation while appreciating that they are not available for all sections of the population.”

The SCI covers the way in which people are involved in determining planning applications, how they are kept informed, how documents are made available and how they can give their views.

It also sets out how the council advertises consultation on planning policies and how it involves the public.

“Rother District Council is consulting on changes to its SCI – a document setting out how the authority will involve the public in the planning process and ensuring the community is involved at every stage of the planning process is extremely important to us,” said Cllr Johnson.

“It is vital that the public have the opportunity to have a say on planning applications and planning policies, which govern development across the district.”

The draft document outlines the main ways in which the council will involve the community in planning decisions: